Nice Brown TOWER 1862 Enfield w/ Likely Confederate Markings & Large BSAT Cartouche
Here is a solid, honest Birmingham-made Enfield M-1853 Rifle-Musket dated 1862. These Enfield rifle-muskets were the workhorse of the Confederacy, and the second most common model of rifled musket used by the Union. This is a nice attic brown one, much better than you usually see. This is not a recent import from Afghanistan or Nepal. The mechanics are crisp and strong, the rifling sharp and clear.
The wood is complete, and solid. The wood was never sanded. The wood does not have all those usual scratches and nicks you usually see. Someone did carve the large initials A M into the side of the buttstock.
The attractive large circular marking of the BIRMINGHAM SMALL ARMS TRADE is still clear on the right side of the stock. You can see the double stamp of a crown symbol with some letters below it in the wood just to the rear of the trigger guard, and I think it likely that these are the double stamped inspectors’ symbols of one of the Confederate Viewers who inspected for the South, but I can’t read them well enough to be sure.
The lockplate markings are 1862 over TOWER to the front of the hammer and the Crown emblem to the rear; this does not have the VR letters under that Crown, which is correct for a gun made for sale to either side of the Civil War. The neatest thing about this enfield is that copper hammer screw. No modern collector would put on such a thing; this is just the sort of field repair you see on Confederate used weapons.
Many of these Enfields are missing the sight, which was just soldered on; this one still has the sight in place, and you can still read the numbers showing distance.
The barrel on these were originally blued, and the color of this one has gone to a nice attractive patina color. The area of the barrel near the bolster, from tang up to the rear sight, has that honest old roughness caused by the corrosive primer from the percussion caps. The sling swivels are the original ones, and the barrel band screws still have those little doughnut shaped end caps on them – these come off if the screws are removed or replaced, and they are often missing, but are present on all three barrel bands.
The bore is very nice on this gun. The rifling is well defined and the edges still sharp for one of these black powder bores. I don't ahve a proper cleaning rod with brush to use, but a patch with Hoppes No 9 solvent on this rifle's ramrod shows this rifling is still in nice shape. The ramrod is full length and had the screw threads at the lower end.
If you wanted only one long arm that would represent the Civil War, these Enfields are that representative piece that covers both sides of the conflict. This is an attractive example, and you could look at dozens and not find one as nice.
Payment by money order or cashiers check; buyer pays actual shipping cost; No sales to New Jersey, NYC, Hawaii or other locations which restrict such sales; item may be returned in 3 days, so long as unfired, not taken apart, and in same condition as shipped; not sold as a shooter; you must have inspected before attempting any such use.
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